It usually comes out sideways. In the car after practice, at bath time, or in a mirror on a school morning: I hate how I look. I’m the fattest one in my class. Why is my body like this?

If your child has said something like that, your stomach probably dropped. Most parents want to fix it on the spot, either by arguing (“You’re beautiful!”) or by quietly agreeing and reaching for a plan. Neither tends to help. Today, October 1, the Church celebrates St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and her “little way” offers a better place to start.

First, listen before you pray

A child who says “I hate my body” is telling you something real about how they feel. Before you correct it or bring God into it, ask one question and wait: “What happened today?” Often there is a story underneath, a comment at lunch, a photo, a uniform that did not fit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that kids who compare their own lives to edited images online can end up with anxiety, envy and sometimes obsessive thoughts. In Texas that pull is strong: according to the UTHealth Dell Center, 90% of school-age children spend two or more hours a day on screens outside of schoolwork (Texas SPAN, 2021–2023). The AAP suggests admitting that comparing ourselves to others is natural, and sharing a moment when you felt it too.

What not to say, and what to say instead

How we talk about bodies at home matters. In a 2013 U.S. study of about 2,800 teenagers and 3,700 parents, teens whose parents talked about weight and size were more likely to diet, use unhealthy weight-control behaviors and binge eat. Among teens with higher weight, mothers who talked only about healthy eating, not weight, had kids who were less likely to diet in unhealthy ways. The lesson is simple: talk about habits and care, not pounds and size.

The little way, for a little person

Thérèse entered a Carmelite convent at fifteen and died at twenty-four. She did not think of herself as strong or impressive. In her autobiography, Story of a Soul, she wrote that she had to “bear with myself such as I am, with all my imperfections,” and still look for “a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new.”

She pictured it as an elevator: “the elevator which must raise me to heaven is your arms, O Jesus!” Pope Francis, in his 2023 letter on her, C’est la confiance, sums her up in one word: confidence, “nothing but confidence,” in a God who loves us first.

That is good news for a discouraged child. Thérèse did not wait to become someone else before she could be loved. Neither does your child.

A three-minute prayer at bedtime

You do not need special words. Here is one simple pattern families can use, sitting on the edge of the bed with the lights low.

• Say it plainly to God. Let your child name the feeling: “Jesus, I felt bad about my body today because…” Do not edit them.
• Read one line of Scripture. Psalm 139 was written for this: “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!” (Psalm 139:13–14).
• Thank God for one thing the body did. Not how it looks: legs that ran at recess, hands that helped with dinner, lungs that sang at Mass.
• Ask for one small thing. In the spirit of the little way: “Help me be kind to myself tomorrow,” or “Help me try the new game at practice.”

Pray it with them, not at them. And if your family is not Catholic, or not religious at all, the same pattern still works as a bedtime talk: name it, hear something true, notice what the body can do, pick one small step.

When it is more than a bad day

Most body worries pass. Some do not. The National Institute of Mental Health describes eating disorders as serious illnesses, and notes that early detection and treatment matter for recovery. If your child seems fixated on weight or shape, is skipping meals, hiding food or exercising in secret, talk with their pediatrician soon. If your child ever talks about hurting themselves, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.

Where Ignite Fit fits

Ignite Fit is built on the same idea. Children train toward a real fitness test, cook real food and talk about the body as something held in trust, never as a scoreboard. Sessions open and close in prayer; families are invited, never required, to take part, and parents are welcome at every session. No parent is ever asked to drop off and leave.

Season One is free for children ages 8–17 in Nueces County, and dates will be announced soon. If your child could use ten weeks of being encouraged instead of judged, register on the Ignite Fit page or call us at 361-765-2126. St. Thérèse, pray for us.